The Gargoyle (2008)

One of my all time favourite books. I hadn't heard any of the hype on this and picked it up I a charity shop for next to nothing. So I wasn't expecting much. But I loved the story and it was a touching ending. Really good read. ( )

Author talking about a story within the book. The video won't ruin the book but it may convince you to read it. :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0JGbtc5QUw&feature=emb_logo
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Re-read 2019, Happy girl. It starts and I can feel I'm in for a good story (again).

Done now. I can't believe how much of the story I had forgotten. I still loved, loved it but this time I'm a little more disappointed about the things I didn't understand.

Marianne Engel tells the unnamed MC stories. One of them is huge, the story of his past life with her. There are other minor stories. I believe there are four of these other minor stories. The stories within the main story are wonderful. The characters in these minor stories are revisited at different times and I wish there was a little hand holding to remind us who they were when they are re-visited. It's hard on audiobook to go back and review details. So I wish the author helped make sure the reader never sat in confusion.

The other part that makes the story difficult for me is Marianne Engel is religious, spending her early life in a monastery and almost becoming a nun as an adult but she met the MC and her life path changed. Being non-religious myself made parts of the story difficult to understand thoroughly. Also Dante's Inferno... the symbolism in The Gargoyle would be better understood with a deeper understanding of Dante's Inferno. I'm going to have to research it before I read the book again. I will be reading it again! I think it's one of my top 10 books. Hopefully next time I will read the physical book. If not, that's okay the audiobook narrator is fantastic.

From publisher website: On a dark road in the middle of the night, a car plunges into a ravine. The driver survives the crash, but his injuries confine him to a hospital burn unit. There the mysterious Marianne Engel, a sculptress of grotesques, enters his life. She insists they were lovers in medieval Germany, when he was a mercenary and she was a scribe in the monastery of Engelthal. As she spins the story of their past lives together, the man’s disbelief falters; soon, even the impossible can no longer be dismissed.

Great Q&A (scroll down): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/37067/the-gargoyle-by-andrew-davidson/9...

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4.5
I looked forward to listening to the book every chance I could. For me, that is what books are for. Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of it went over my head. Maybe by the time I read it again I will be smarter and I will be able to understand the book better.

I didn't like how Marianne & unnamed MC didn't talk about his experience during the morphine withdrawal. I wish I was more experienced to understand his experience "there". It reconnected us to the people we met in Marianne's stories but I feel much of the book is over my head because of my lack of knowledge of things. ex Dante's inferno. On re-read I will really listen to the extra stories within the story.
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I own the physical book but I've listened twice on audio narrated by Lincoln Hoppe. He does a fantastic job! ( )

Brilliant ( )

A truly visceral read. Andrew Davidson has a great style that grabs the reader and won't let them go until the story is told. I especially liked juxtaposition between Gregor and Sayuri's romance alongside the main love story. Two different sides of the same coin. A unique and scintillating book. ( )

A fascinating tale that is expertly woven together. One of the best books I've read. ( )